People of Earth,
It is our duty to you super fans of this blog and all things Karen to inform you that Cream Team has had to pull off the trail and is resting among family in Morgantown. Two days ago, she called her folks and was suffering from dehydration, dizziness, shakes, blurry vision and difficulty keeping food down. When she made it to Erwin to meet up with her friend Sarah, Cream Team didn't recognize her at all. Sarah pulled her off the trail and said Karen was staying with her until she got better or someone came and picked her up. Simultaneously, Karen's dad decided to come down and check on Cream Team's condition, and if need be bring her home.
Cream Team hiked 340 miles even in under 21 days' time for an average of 17 miles/day. Very impressive for the sickness, soreness and sleeplessness she endured. The trail is very difficult even in the most ideal conditions, and when circumstances, equipment and weather work against you it's nearly impossible to traverse. Those who know Cream Team and her accomplishments know she doesn't have anything to prove in matters of her toughness, stamina, and abilities. The good news of all of this is that Karen can hang out with everyone this summer!
We want to thank everyone for their support, love, prayers, phone messages, letters/care package, etc. The community of family and friends of Karen's is just as amazing as her (though just barely :)
Ok so that's three paragraphs, time to wrap this up. Karen at this time has no plans to finish the hike all the way to Maine but we don't know what adventures are in store between now and the start of the Fall semester. Give someone you love a trail name today! Happy Recovery, Team Mullenax!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Cream Team: Day Eighteen
"Where are you? Do you want me to come get you now? What do you want, me to feed you, a shower? You're not some crazy vegetarian are you?" Cream Team is planning to meet up with an old hiker friend's sister beyond Erwin. She should be at One More Bite's sister's house in four days.
Yesterday Cream Team pulled a 20 miler, though it would be a 23 miler if you count time she spent looking for the trail to get out of Hot Springs. Otherwise she had a good mental day, though she did eat a large, diversified meal at Elmer's that may have caught up. She skipped lunch on her zero so she could have a big dinner of two bowls of potato onion soup w/ multi grain crackers, salad with Asian dressing (wanted two plates but was cautioned against this), brown rice with tomato based spread, potatoes and veggies (Indian dish) and finally meringue pie - homemade coconut. The next morning "First I puked, then I cried for puking, then I had coffee and hash browns with an old Texas couple."
Why so much font devoted to what she ate? For those who haven't hiked on the trail much, whenever you run into a fellow hiker the conversation consists of 1) trail name exchange 2) where you're from 3) how many miles you pulled/where you stopping for the day and 4) FOOD! Everybody likes to talk about where they can get good meals, cheap meals, what's easy to make, what's got protein and calories, what meals are terrible, seen any trail magic, got any food you're looking to get rid of to lighten your load, etc.
Cream Team got yet another blister, "My shoes are too small or my feet are too swollen!" Two of the last three days she has pulled 20 miles and is starting to hit her stride. That puts her at 290.3 miles over 18 days (16.1 miles/day). Cream Team always looks like they're going to fail at first, but always stumbles across the finish line in time. Cream Team can do this and will tear this up like a lawn mower running over sand box toys! Everyone start praying for Karen's morale and body if you haven't been already. She's almost to Virginia where God willing and the feet don't pop, a lot of miles can be put behind you in a short time. Only 9 days til Flag Day! Happy Trails, Team Mullenax
PS - Thanks for all the great comments on the blog! Writing about someone like Karen on an adventure like this makes the blog pretty easy :)
Yesterday Cream Team pulled a 20 miler, though it would be a 23 miler if you count time she spent looking for the trail to get out of Hot Springs. Otherwise she had a good mental day, though she did eat a large, diversified meal at Elmer's that may have caught up. She skipped lunch on her zero so she could have a big dinner of two bowls of potato onion soup w/ multi grain crackers, salad with Asian dressing (wanted two plates but was cautioned against this), brown rice with tomato based spread, potatoes and veggies (Indian dish) and finally meringue pie - homemade coconut. The next morning "First I puked, then I cried for puking, then I had coffee and hash browns with an old Texas couple."
Why so much font devoted to what she ate? For those who haven't hiked on the trail much, whenever you run into a fellow hiker the conversation consists of 1) trail name exchange 2) where you're from 3) how many miles you pulled/where you stopping for the day and 4) FOOD! Everybody likes to talk about where they can get good meals, cheap meals, what's easy to make, what's got protein and calories, what meals are terrible, seen any trail magic, got any food you're looking to get rid of to lighten your load, etc.
Cream Team got yet another blister, "My shoes are too small or my feet are too swollen!" Two of the last three days she has pulled 20 miles and is starting to hit her stride. That puts her at 290.3 miles over 18 days (16.1 miles/day). Cream Team always looks like they're going to fail at first, but always stumbles across the finish line in time. Cream Team can do this and will tear this up like a lawn mower running over sand box toys! Everyone start praying for Karen's morale and body if you haven't been already. She's almost to Virginia where God willing and the feet don't pop, a lot of miles can be put behind you in a short time. Only 9 days til Flag Day! Happy Trails, Team Mullenax
PS - Thanks for all the great comments on the blog! Writing about someone like Karen on an adventure like this makes the blog pretty easy :)
Friday, June 3, 2011
Cream Team: Day Seventeen
"Don't get mad, don't get mad!" exclaimed Cream Team when she phoned in this afternoon and talked to her Jillian Michaels-esque hiking partner Michelle. Cream Team hiked 20 miles yesterday trying to make the Hot Springs post office to pick up care packages/fan mail before they closed at 4:00pm. Karen got there at 4:02pm and would have to wait until morning for her energon cubes. She decided with her swollen feet and being a hiker in a hiker's town she would take a "zero" the next day (today). A "zero" is when you rest and pull zero miles. During the '02 hike Karen and Michelle didn't even know what a zero was until they were in Virginia...
Karen was able to make it to Hot Springs in such good time by playing A-B-C jukebox five times as recommended by fellow hikers. It's a game where you go through the alphabet naming music artists or songs that start with that letter (Xanadu, Xerxes anyone?). Then she changed it up to A-B-C celebrity. I suggest everyone try that for their next 100-mile race (I'm talking Vermont, Glenn!)
"A got chocolate milk because you know I am about chocolate milk (trail craving). Then when I got to the diner I only at 2 1/2 slices of pizza cause the chocolate milk ruined my dinner!"
Cream Team purchased some new shorts because she wore her old ones out. She's staying at Elmer's, which is a bed and breakfast with the most amazing food on the trail hands-down, with tons of hikers in a $15 basement room. "I've only known you for 10 minutes but you're the life of the party!" one fellow hiker told Cream Team.
The mail drop Karen picked up today was perfect thank you all so much for your loving encouragement/encouraging love, all the letters, gummi worms and cheese balls were amazing. "I had to leave the post office right away because I knew I would cry!" Did Team Mullenax mention we sent our large care package in a diaper box? Well we did. Another hiker saw Cream Team in town with said box and asked "What are you going to do with those diapers?" to which she responded "I'm pretty much depending on them!"
Cream Team has been taking naps today and already slept through two movies (which means she was definitely not watching anything with Steve Martin). "I'm pretty much ready to go" Cream Team said as she talked about tomorrow's hiking. So sports fans the mileage total is 270.7 over 17 days (15.9 miles/day). Intro to outro there you have it. Happy Trails, Team Mullenax!
Karen was able to make it to Hot Springs in such good time by playing A-B-C jukebox five times as recommended by fellow hikers. It's a game where you go through the alphabet naming music artists or songs that start with that letter (Xanadu, Xerxes anyone?). Then she changed it up to A-B-C celebrity. I suggest everyone try that for their next 100-mile race (I'm talking Vermont, Glenn!)
"A got chocolate milk because you know I am about chocolate milk (trail craving). Then when I got to the diner I only at 2 1/2 slices of pizza cause the chocolate milk ruined my dinner!"
Cream Team purchased some new shorts because she wore her old ones out. She's staying at Elmer's, which is a bed and breakfast with the most amazing food on the trail hands-down, with tons of hikers in a $15 basement room. "I've only known you for 10 minutes but you're the life of the party!" one fellow hiker told Cream Team.
The mail drop Karen picked up today was perfect thank you all so much for your loving encouragement/encouraging love, all the letters, gummi worms and cheese balls were amazing. "I had to leave the post office right away because I knew I would cry!" Did Team Mullenax mention we sent our large care package in a diaper box? Well we did. Another hiker saw Cream Team in town with said box and asked "What are you going to do with those diapers?" to which she responded "I'm pretty much depending on them!"
Cream Team has been taking naps today and already slept through two movies (which means she was definitely not watching anything with Steve Martin). "I'm pretty much ready to go" Cream Team said as she talked about tomorrow's hiking. So sports fans the mileage total is 270.7 over 17 days (15.9 miles/day). Intro to outro there you have it. Happy Trails, Team Mullenax!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Cream Team: Day Fifteen
58 miles and three days later we heard from Cream Team tonight! Apparently cell service isn't great in one of the largest national parks in the continental US. She has caught up with a group of thru-hikers who started in April and can't believe Karen caught them in two weeks. They have christened her with a new trail name "Tenacious K". Cream Team's feet are still super sore and may very well become two large separate blisters whose boundaries are contained only by her shoes. Karen is now 250.8 miles into the trail over 15 days (16.7 mi/day).
Cream Team has left the Smokies and is 20 miles from Hot Springs NC. She's had a lot of good conversations with people she's met and is happy for the companionship she's received. Karen sounded very upbeat on the phone and was hoping to make it to the Hot Springs post office tomorrow before it closes at 4pm to get those yummy mail drops.
Stay tuned super friends, more updates as they come in! Happy trails, Team Mullenax
Cream Team has left the Smokies and is 20 miles from Hot Springs NC. She's had a lot of good conversations with people she's met and is happy for the companionship she's received. Karen sounded very upbeat on the phone and was hoping to make it to the Hot Springs post office tomorrow before it closes at 4pm to get those yummy mail drops.
Stay tuned super friends, more updates as they come in! Happy trails, Team Mullenax
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Cream Team: Day Twelve
"There are butterflies everywhere. They are all over my pack. Bees too!" Cream Team is one exhausted hiker and phoned in a yawn-filled report. The last two nights she has been getting minimal sleep due to fellow hikers' nocturnal habits. Couple that with another blister ("Now I have 69 of them!") and super sore feet and Karen is feeling a little discouraged. The mileage is at 192.8 and tomorrow she'll have completed 10% of the trail!
Cream Team is loving meeting new hikers everyday and would love to have someone to hike with consistently but they're all hiking too slow. She will go up Clingman's Dome tomorrow which is the highest point on the AT at 6,643 feet (though this is not the highest climb on the trail). Keeping up the mental game is hard, and she would jump off the trail if "I was getting married in two weeks because the bug bites are sooo bad!"
When she gets to Hot Springs there will be some awesome, face-melting letters and care packages waiting for her (we sent her Utz's Cheese Balls). Until then she's just plugging along day in and day out. All the prayers and phone messages are greatly appreciated...she misses everyone terribly. Good night and good luck. Happy Trails, Team Mullenax!
Cream Team is loving meeting new hikers everyday and would love to have someone to hike with consistently but they're all hiking too slow. She will go up Clingman's Dome tomorrow which is the highest point on the AT at 6,643 feet (though this is not the highest climb on the trail). Keeping up the mental game is hard, and she would jump off the trail if "I was getting married in two weeks because the bug bites are sooo bad!"
When she gets to Hot Springs there will be some awesome, face-melting letters and care packages waiting for her (we sent her Utz's Cheese Balls). Until then she's just plugging along day in and day out. All the prayers and phone messages are greatly appreciated...she misses everyone terribly. Good night and good luck. Happy Trails, Team Mullenax!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Cream Team: Day Ten
Karen checked in Saturday morning to report on the events from Friday. She had quite a lot to report. Friday was rainy and dismal. In order to pass the time, she replayed each of the Twilight books in her head until she started getting the movies and books confused. She hiked the 12 miles to Fontana Dam. In need of a resupply, she had to await a shuttle to a small, expensive store with little selection. She met another hiker on the shuttle who has been on the trail for a month already. Karen chose not to mention her start date to this hiker. By the time she returned from resupplying, it was 3pm and over 10 miles to the next shelter. This would be no problem typically, but when entering the Smokies, there is an extreme climb. You are expected to camp only in designated areas. And one must be particularly careful about hanging one's food far away from her camping area for optimum bear safety. The climb, bear safety measures, and her sore feet persuaded her to hold off on the Smokies unitl Saturday.
She was able to shower, but unfortuantely not sleep well at Fontana Dam due to fellow hikers' sleep patterns. Her spirits were lifted by songs sung to her on her voice mail by a fellow Friendship Preservation Society member. (Keep those up-lifting messages coming.) She reports her feet are still bad. She is nursing her blisters and they are shrinking, but she found a new one.
Her morning call came before 10am and she had already hiked 8 mi into the Smokies. She is glad to now be among fellow thru hikers and into a new phase of the trail already. Below are some Karen quotes stated to Michelle this morning:
"We were able to sustain in our original hike because you (Michelle) were lazy." (ouch)
"Jenn Pharr Davis is a machine." (Jenn Pharr Davis is the current female record holder for a supported (Karen is unsupported) thru hike- in under 60 days.)
"My favorite part of the day is eating and sleeping." (duh)
"This has really been a refinement process." (Karen doesn't need much refinement, help us all if she does.)
"I'm getting a great tan." (Well that's why you did this afterall.)
"My muscles are almost too big for my skin."
"I thought my thigh muscle was going to pop out."
Current milage:162.6
Happy Trails, Team Mullenax
She was able to shower, but unfortuantely not sleep well at Fontana Dam due to fellow hikers' sleep patterns. Her spirits were lifted by songs sung to her on her voice mail by a fellow Friendship Preservation Society member. (Keep those up-lifting messages coming.) She reports her feet are still bad. She is nursing her blisters and they are shrinking, but she found a new one.
Her morning call came before 10am and she had already hiked 8 mi into the Smokies. She is glad to now be among fellow thru hikers and into a new phase of the trail already. Below are some Karen quotes stated to Michelle this morning:
"We were able to sustain in our original hike because you (Michelle) were lazy." (ouch)
"Jenn Pharr Davis is a machine." (Jenn Pharr Davis is the current female record holder for a supported (Karen is unsupported) thru hike- in under 60 days.)
"My favorite part of the day is eating and sleeping." (duh)
"This has really been a refinement process." (Karen doesn't need much refinement, help us all if she does.)
"I'm getting a great tan." (Well that's why you did this afterall.)
"My muscles are almost too big for my skin."
"I thought my thigh muscle was going to pop out."
Current milage:162.6
Happy Trails, Team Mullenax
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Cream Team: Day Nine
Today was tough for Cream Team. She hiked a hard 16 miles in heavy rain and covered a 5,000 foot elevation change (going up). Cream Team threw down her tyvek on the side of the trail and took two quick naps and tried to let her feet heal. She's at Brown Fork Gap shelter and will reach Fontana Dam and Tennessee tomorrow easily. The group of thru-hikers she hoped to catch remain just out of reach, around six miles ahead of her which she couldn't traverse tonight due to lightning. We're sending her some of her gear tomorrow so she can grab it when she hits Hot Springs.
Yesterday a woman Cream Team met described an iron man triathlon so beautifully (at least to Karen) she started to cry because "It was beautiful!" So maybe next year this blog will morph to follow Cream Team training for an iron man? I prefer War Machine personally.
On the intriguing side, Cream Team read a journal entry in a similar prose and signature as a hiking buddy from the '02 trek: Garlic Man! She's not 100% if it is but it would be a great boast if she ran into G. Man. He watched out for her during the '02 hike but the journal entry was from mid-April so Karen's not sure she'll find out or not. Next stop Willoughby!
Tough rain-filled miles were pounded out today as her feet heal tonight. To lift her spirits the other day Matt did sing her Andy Samberg/Michael Bolton's "Captain Jack Sparrow" (radio edit version). Unfortunately that was all Matt's "A" material so we need to watch more SNL before she calls again. Get those encouragement love letters in the mail folks! Happy Trails, Team Mullenax!
Yesterday a woman Cream Team met described an iron man triathlon so beautifully (at least to Karen) she started to cry because "It was beautiful!" So maybe next year this blog will morph to follow Cream Team training for an iron man? I prefer War Machine personally.
On the intriguing side, Cream Team read a journal entry in a similar prose and signature as a hiking buddy from the '02 trek: Garlic Man! She's not 100% if it is but it would be a great boast if she ran into G. Man. He watched out for her during the '02 hike but the journal entry was from mid-April so Karen's not sure she'll find out or not. Next stop Willoughby!
Tough rain-filled miles were pounded out today as her feet heal tonight. To lift her spirits the other day Matt did sing her Andy Samberg/Michael Bolton's "Captain Jack Sparrow" (radio edit version). Unfortunately that was all Matt's "A" material so we need to watch more SNL before she calls again. Get those encouragement love letters in the mail folks! Happy Trails, Team Mullenax!
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